rabbithatch | no spy music allowed in rabbi thatch | ryusei sakuta and kengo utahoshi

It was quiet when Ryusei walked into Rabbit Hatch. Good, there wasn't anyone in here. He made his way quickly to the control room and pulled out Meteor Switch; he needed to do this quickly before anyone came in. Tachibana's support was all very well and good, but Meteor's status was always either dictated to him or sent in a box. Nothing like the real-time updates Rabbit Hatch could do, and if Ryusei wanted to get a full picture of Meteor's capabilities, he needed to do a little sneaky diagnostic right now, right here.

Don't look down on me.

Tachibana couldn't ever again insinuate that Ryusei was at fault for weaknesses in battle. He had received Meteor Storm, but he didn't want to have to ask for another upgrade, even if he was confident that Tachibana would give it to him. He was grateful to Tachibana for doing so. But on the other hand, Tachibana had taken advantage of his situation—of Jirou's situation—to manipulate Ryusei. Oh yes, he remembered it, even if he was loathe to mention it to Tachibana. Just in case.

Quickly. He tapped his fingers on the table as Meteor Switch was scanned. After a harrowing moment, the results finally came up on the screen. Ryusei leaned forward.

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While Ryusei was gone, Kengo had scribbled down a few other notes in his notebook and then put it away, though the temptation was there to let Ryusei have a look at it, just because they'd been discussing it. There was no point to really dwelling on it now though, was there? It was still something that wouldn't happen for awhile, if it ever happened at all. So while he waited for Ryusei to return, Kengo brought up the specs for the current switch and kept them on the screen, though he couldn't quite motivate himself to work on it. It was difficult to tell what was wrong, especially since every time he tried to pinpoint it, his mind would shove the topic out of his head.

Absently tapping at a few keys, Kengo returned to eating the rest of his onigiri, perking his head up when he heard the door open. When Ryusei walked into the room, Kengo attempted to smile at him, though he couldn't bring himself to. Instead, he turned his attention back to the computer, feeling more awkward than before. "We should be able to finish this one up today..."

"Apparently it's good for catching small particles of Comic Energy," Ryusei said, coming over to look over Utahoshi's shoulder. Just keep talking about the Switches, and it would all be fine. If Utahoshi looked like he was exerting himself, Ryusei would be here to do something—probably threaten to tell Kisaragi, if it came to it. Utahoshi disliked Kisaragi making a nuisance of himself as much as Ryusei, right?

He'd come to that if he came to it. Something on the screen caught his eye. More quickly than he probably should have, Ryusei had leaned forward. "Something just—"

It wasn't anything Meteor-related, was it? Ryusei had made sure to— No, that was just something flashing that usually flashed. "—Oh, it's nothing...?"

He made a show of squinting at it, as if he hadn't been looking at—or rather, for—something specific.

"We'll have to run it through test runs a few times to see what use it has as far as battle application. It doesn't seem particularly useful." That was also what he'd said when they had used the Hopping Switch ages before, but Gentarou had sworn it would have some use. It ended up being useful, so Kengo was reluctant to say something would be completely useless. "We'll find something for it to do."

With the sudden movement, Kengo's body immediately tensed up. Having people stand behind him was something he wasn't used to and neither was having someone that close to him. When Kengo turned his head to look at the other, he realized how close Sakuta's face was to his own, hesitating for a few moments before turning his attention back to the screen and letting out a breath. What in the world had that feeling been?

Ryusei looked over when he felt more than heard the exhalation of breath, then hastily backed away.

"W-we'll have to wait unt-until Kisaragi-kun is here, then," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. Ugh, why had there had been a nervous hitch to his voice? He could remain calm. He could. After all this time of putting with Kisaragi and everyone else, he was good at this. He was.

"I-I'm sorry," he belatedly added. "About that. I—" It wasn't like he was hasty to get the Switch done or anything. "I was just—" He stepped forward, earnestly. "There must have been something in my eye—"

Not good enough. He let out a frustrated exhale. "I-I'll let you work," he said, turning to go to the main room.

"Sakuta..." Kengo reached out as soon as Ryusei turned away, pushing his chair back to reach out for the other. His reaction had been faster than the last time, where he had missed, this time making sure to tightly grasp the other boy's wrist so he wouldn't walk away. Kengo didn't bother to stand up, but he tilted his head back to look up at him.

What was he supposed to say? Everything seemed so uncomfortable between them, even though Kengo was starting to realize that he considered Ryusei a close friend. So... What was causing the constant, awkward energy between them?

"Don't apologize." Kengo lightly tugged on the other's arm to pull him back in. "I'd prefer if you stayed." ... it almost felt as though Ryusei was trying to avoid him, as much as the other kept ducking out of the room. Was he forcing himself to be nice, for some reason? Maybe Ryusei genuinely disliked him...

"I just want you to tell me the truth. ... if something's bothering you."

Ryusei pulled his arm from Utahoshi's grasp. After a moment, clasped his hands together in front of him like he usually did, staring down at them while he gathered his thoughts. Something that bothered him? There were plenty. Ryusei went with the truth. "I don't want to rush you," he started.

But he wanted the Switch work done, Fourze at max power. For Jir—for the Club's sake. Meteor Storm Switch had been ready just in time. It might not, the next time. And Fourze wasn't powerful enough yet to handle things like that.

Never mind that that wasn't what was bothering him, per se, at the current moment. But if Utahoshi wanted the truth, then he would get it. "But I'm worried about— About next time."

About the next time he would be stuck in a room alone together with Utahoshi. It was harder to keep himself in control, for some reason. That wasn't acceptable. It couldn't be allowed. He didn't need or want any distractions.

When Ryusei pulled back, Kengo kept his hand up before curling his fingers closer to his palm and dropping his hand to his side. It was just something else that made Kengo feel like he was doing something wrong, or maybe he was a bad judge of character. There had never been a time where Kengo had tried so hard to uncover someone's motives when that person wasn't a Zodiart or a Horoscope.

"Next time?" Kengo wasn't sure what Ryusei meant by that. The next time Fourze fought? It was true that Fourze seemed to be getting weaker with keeping up with the Horoscopes and that Meteor was surpassing them already, but... everything would work out, wouldn't it? As long as Gentarou was there, Kengo was sure they would find a way to win.

Opening his mouth to say something else, Kengo abruptly cut himself off when he heard the sound of the Hatch's door opening again, the rest of the KRC piling back into the room with Gentarou at the front. Kengo tensed up and immediately turned back to his work, trying to find a way to pretend that he hadn't just been having a serious conversation.

He'd turned to look at who entered, but he hadn't failed to notice how hastily Utahoshi had turned back to the console. Had anything they'd said been a secret? He couldn't ask now, not with Kisaragi bearing down on them with that grin on his face.

On the other hand, Ryusei dreaded the next time he'd be alone with Utahoshi too much to orchestrate a moment in private in which he could ask. Perhaps a brief moment.... If he could be sure that Utahoshi would know what Ryusei was talking about. There were many reasons Utahoshi might turn away, the most sympathetic of them being that he didn't want to deal with Kisaragi.

He has the worst timing, Ryusei thought as he plastered a fake smile on his face to greet the idiot. Ryusei would have to deal with whatever it was between him and Utahoshi later.

no spy music allowed in rabbi thatch | ryusei sakuta and kengo utahoshi

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